


nothing in this world for free

by Iki_teru



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, aka borderlands AU, set in the world of Pandora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 09:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6112459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iki_teru/pseuds/Iki_teru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon, Yuffie, and Tifa are three vault hunters heading back to their home base when they meet a peculiar young girl on the bus. Kairi is clearly out of her elements and the three hunters remember being young and scared and alone. They all know if it weren't for someone extending a kind hand in a harsh wasteland then they'd be so much skag shit by now. Time to pay the favor forward, if Kairi will let them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nothing in this world for free

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally me going "oh my god I really really really want KH characters in the world of Pandora" and the plot bunny haunted me for MONTHS. There's a lot of terms here that, if you haven't played Borderlands might be more than a little confusing. (and if you have, s'up lets be friends.) 
> 
> This is also, at this point, a one shot. I would love to continue it but lets be real people, it probably isn't going to happen.

The bus hit a pothole, jarring everyone inside. The driver, Peg-leg Pete, swore under his breath and shouts something at his passengers that they were all disinclined to care about. Nothing mattered so long as he got them to their destination in mostly one piece.

Today, his bus only carries four other souls. Three are friends, boarded at the same stop and destined for the same end. The last is a lonely young girl huddled against the window, staring intently at the darkening world beyond the bus’ fragile hull.

Yuffie, head pillowed in Tifa’s lap in the very back row, is talking animatedly about nothing. This is a special skill she has developed in her short existence and those in the know can see the truth of what she’s saying in her tone and the way she gesticulates.

Tifa is in the know. She manages to look half interested in Yuffie’s story, flipping idly through an old Guns and Ammo magazine she found stashed in her bag. Tifa “hmm’s” and “aah’s” in the right places, kicks the back of Squall-no-excuse-us-Leon’s seat.

Leon sighs and without bothering to open his eyes, gives a silent nod.

“I,” Yuffie begins, interrupting her own story in an unnecessarily loud voice, “am going to go ask ol’ Peg-leg how much longer we have in this damn tin can.” She rolls off of Tifa’s lap, making a whole slew of unnecessary noises and exaggerated motions as she rights herself. Tifa, for her part, sighs and flips another page.

Yuffie saunters down the aisle, pausing long enough to ruffle Leon’s hair- which earns her low growl in response. She has to time this right, which is hard when you’re in a mobile death trap.

Luckily for her the road is more hole than whole, and she manages an almost convincing “whoops!” as she stumbles, catching herself on the seat where the strange young girl sits alone.

“Hiya,” says Yuffie. She smiles and mentally reminds herself to reign in the edges. The girl pulls farther into herself, glancing over her shoulder at Yuffie nervously.

Well, we can’t have that.

It takes more effort than she will ever admit to make her body relax, to hold still and look at peace. This girl is like a terrified bunny, one of the nice ones that probably won’t eat your face, and Yuffie remembers being like that once. They all do, which is why she’s in this seat right now. “You don’t look like an escaped murderess.”

The girl recoils. “Excuse me?”

“You also don’t look like you’re wanted for robbing banks or embezzling or any of the normal reasons you find anyone this far out in Pandora. So, inquiring minds want to know kid, what the hell are you doing out here?” What Yuffie doesn’t say is: _you look like you skipped class and keep waiting for the principal to catch you._ The kid has a band-aid on her knee, one of those stupid ones with a cartoon kitty who is all eyes and no mouth, and Yuffie can count all the places the kid could be hiding a gun but quite obviously isn’t - and the kid is so pale she’s already freckling from the ride out- and what the _hell_ is a kid like that doing out here?

The girl straightens, her thin hands clenched in her lap. “That’s none of your business,” she snaps.

Yuffie manages an easy shrug, manages to beat back the memories of being small and desperate and defenseless and hopelessly lost in the unforgiving desert. Of the older kids crowding around her, pressing hands over her eyes telling her to hush, to just be still, be quiet; it’ll be alright.

“Your right,” says Yuffie. She’s proud of herself for keeping the memories out of her voice. “It’s not, but we’ve been through these parts before and we know a greenhorn when we see one. Just thought we’d extend a hand, see you stay alive at least past the edge of Fyrestone.”

Tifa is now draped across the back of the seat Yuffie shares with the strange girl. She flashes a smile; it’s so much more natural on her face. “More importantly, we’ve been where you are, if it weren’t for a kind soul helping out a bunch of half dead kids, we wouldn’t be here. Let us help you, if we can.”

The girl casts a suspicious glance back and forth between Yuffie and Tifa. She leans up on her knees, looking back at Leon who just offers a glare devoid of emotions back. Satisfied with whatever checklist is running through her head, the girl sits back down. “My name is Kairi,” she says, rubbing absently at the brilliant blue tattoos crawling down her left arm. “I’m here to find my friends.”

She passes over a scrap of paper.  It’s been folded so many times it threatens to come undone with any amount of pressure, there are only five words scribbled across it. _We’re sorry, don’t be mad_.

“That’s the only contact I’ve had from them, over a month ago. There was a stamp from the Fyrestone mail office.”

“What are your friends after?” Tifa asks.

Kairi looks distinctly uncomfortable. “I’d rather not say. It’s nothing bad, I promise. We’re just looking for some information and Pandora is where we’ve been led.”

The bus lurches to a stop, halting any further conversation as Peg-leg Pete shouts, “End of the road, everybody get the hell off my bus!”

Yuffie grabs Kairi’s wrist, hauling the girl behind her as she races to the front of the bus. “Welcome to Fyrestone, Kairi.”

  


 

Yuffie follows the skag in her scope, it’s far enough away that she couldn’t hear it roar, but the sound is familiar enough for her to fill in the blanks. Home sweet home. Her communicator buzzes to life, Leon’s voice crackling in his usual level of joy. “Yuffie, report.”

She sighs, adjusting the scarf around her neck, it is windy this high on the plateau and little eddies of sand keep blowing her way, and finally she pressed her earpiece to reply. “Three skag nests, I’ve seen fifteen pups and nine adults and-” Her voice trails off, mesmerized as a walking inferno moved out from behind one of the caves.

“And a fiery badass,” she whispers into the mouthpiece, lining up the shot even as Leon issues his orders.

It’s going to be beautiful.

The badass stalks the perimeter of the nests; clearly this one is the alpha to the whole group. It pauses once, sniffing at the air before letting loose a powerful roar; the tinny, distorted echoes reach Yuffie in her lookout post, and she allows herself one more moment to marvel at the beautiful fuckery of nature before pulling the trigger on her rifle.

The badass’ head explodes and the rest of the skags scatter on high alert. Yuffie keeps watch from her vantage point as Tifa charges in. Yuffie will never get use to Tifa’s particular brand of battling, despite the numerous guns strapped all over her body; Tifa prefers to get up close and personal. She punches one of the full grown skags hard enough to snap its neck, and not for the first time Yuffie remembered to be glad Tifa likes her.

She shifts her view over, watching as Leon strolls up. He has a pistol gripped in one hand, firing with aching precision, and any skag stupid enough to try and sneak up on him meets the business end of that ridiculous sword he insists on carrying around.

While it’s amusing to watch her friends beat the snot out of various creatures, Yuffie forces herself to look away and track Kairi. She’s come far in the few weeks they’d been together; it had taken a few days none of them could afford to teach her the basics back in Fyrestone. Now she stands, if stiffly, at least confidently with her pistol, switching off to her smg as three skags tried to blindside her. Yuffie presses her comm, shouting out a warning as another skag tries to jump Kairi from behind. The younger girl spins, throwing out her hand and a sheer pink wall exploded outward from her fingertips, the skag bouncing off and looking dazed.

A fucking Siren, Yuffie was still reeling from that particular bit of information. It was rumored only seven Sirens existed in the whole _universe_ , and they practically tripped over one by sheer happenstance. Kairi finishes the skag off with one close range shot through the gaping mouth, and she turns away, wiping a splotch of skag gore off her cheek absently.

With the skags finally dispatched and no immediate danger on the horizon, Yuffie starts her descent. Tifa clucks in her ear about being careful the whole time, but really getting down was the _easy_ part.

Kairi is polishing skag barf off a new pistol. It’s such a change from the first time they took her out, gagging at the smell of the skag nests, let alone digging the inevitable treasures out of the questionable piles scattered around. Yuffie pauses to share a much deserved fist bump with her.

“Well then, fearless leader, where to next?” asks Yuffie, batting her eyes at Leon just because she knows it annoys him.

He looks away. “Descriptions matching Sora and Riku place them somewhere near the Salt Flats, so that seems a good a place as any.”

“Great, Cid finally worked most of the bugs out of his Catch-a-ride system, so it shouldn’t take us too long,” says Tifa. She stretches her arms out, popping her knuckles and rotating her wrists. “We should restock on supplies before then though.”

“I’m driving!” cries Yuffie, grabbing Kairi’s hand and hauling her off to the waiting jeep. “Kai, you can be my guns.”

Behind her Kairi laughs, sliding her hand down to intertwine fingers with Yuffie’s, “How about i drive and you be _my_ gunner?”

“Are you implying there’s something wrong with my driving?”

“Absolutely not, if we were on a suicide mission I’d let you drive all day.”   

Yuffie thinks about this for a moment, searching for a witty retort. Unfortunately, the overwhelming reality and the constant nagging from Leon behind them about the incident where she ran into the canyon wall eighteen times before figuring out how to get out of reverse serves as a constant reminder that directing a vehicle is not her strong suit.

“Okay, I can do gunning. It’s not my fault if a bunch of raks decide we look delicious though, I just want that noted now.” She pops an anti-motion sickness pill in her mouth, chomping down hard. It taste like chalk and skag ass, but she could kiss Aerith for coming up with something that keeps her from heaving _and_ conscious to boot.

In the driver’s seat Kairi hits the horn, shouting at Leon and Tifa to hurry up.  Yuffie straps herself into the gunner’s nest just as the jeep lurches forward and they set off, only the stars and each other for company, to their next destination.


End file.
